Baffinland Mary River Project
Environmental Assessment Methods
Marine Environment VECs
Workshop Session
02 November 2011
Contents
• EA Methods• Marine Environment• VEC Selection• KIs• Measurable Parameters
Environmental Assessment Methods
• General Principles• Prediction Methods – “Significance”• Tools used in Effects Prediction• Mary River EIS Issues– Adequacy of Baseline– Adequacy of Project Description– Thresholds and Magnitude– Significance Determination
Guidelines• “ Deficiencies in baseline data increase uncertainties in the
prediction of potential impacts, and consequently require an intensification of corresponding monitoring and mitigation programs…..”
• VECs– Marine and Coastal Habitats including sea ice and seabed sediments– Marine fish and invertebrates– Marine mammals including such representative species as polar bears, seals,
bowhead whales, walrus, beluga whales, narwhals.
• Baseline Data• “Descriptions of marine wildlife populations”
Ringed seal “ at least a few million”
Walrus “population numbers or trends are not well known”
Beluga Eastern High Arctic Baffin Bay(21,213)
Western Hudson Bay (57, 300); Eastern Hudson Bay
(2,453); Ungava (endangered) Narwhal > 63, 000 Bowhead (Eastern Canada- West Greenland population) – 6,344
Polar Bear Foxe Basin (2,119); Baffin Bay (2,074);
Davis Strait ( 2,100)
General Principles
• What is an environmental assessment?• a planning process• a tool to communicate a project’s
environmental impacts and mitigation measures.
• an approval process– high level decisions on – overall acceptability of major undertakings.
Timing of Environmental Assessment
• normally carried out “as early as possible” in the Proponent’s Project definition process.– affects detailed design; however – less than perfect or highly detailed plans are
available for the EIS.
Significance
“significant adverse effects”
Direction +Frequency, Duration +Extent +Reversibility +Magnitude
Measurable Parameter
= Significance of Effect
Probability + Level of Confidence = Certainty
Dealing with Uncertainty
MagnitudeComplexity
Geographic Extent
Significance of Impact
FrequencyDuration
Reversibility
CertaintyProbability
Level of Confidence
DirectionNature
Significance
Certainty
IMPACT PREDICTION
Baseline Environment Description
• Misconceptions– “complete” body of knowledge required for
effects prediction• Rare to have “perfect” level of information for
decision-makers• Implies that detailed and final Project description is
available
Baffinland Iron MinesMary River ProjectMARINE ENVIRONMENT
October 18, 2011Technical Meetings
Marine VECs & Key Indicators
Marine Mammals• Ringed Seal• Bearded Seal *• Walrus• Beluga Whale• Narwhal• Bowhead
Whale• Polar Bear
*Added based on an Information Request.
Sea Ice• Landfast ice in
Steensby Inlet• Pack ice along
southern shipping route *
* Added based on an Information Request.
Water & Sediment Quality
• water quality parameters: TSS, nutrients, metals, salinity, & hydrocarbons
• sediments: focus on metals & PAHs
Reliance on CCME – PMAL thresholds
Marine Habitat & Biota
• Marine fish habitat: HADD approach
• Arctic char
Basis of Effects Predictions
VEC/KI Modelling Results
Data Analysis
Literature Review
Regulatory Process
Professional Judgment
Sea Ice
Landfast Pack
Water & Sediment Quality
Water Sediment
Marine Habitat & Biota
Habitat Arctic char
Basis of Effects Predictions (cont’d)
VEC/KI Modelling Results
Data Analysis
Literature Review
Regulatory Process
Professional Judgment
Marine Mammals
Ringed seal Bearded seal
Walrus Beluga whale
Narwhal Bowhead whale
Polar bear
Interactions AssessedVEC/KI Habitat
ChangeDisturbance Masking Hearing
ImpairmentMortality
Marine Mammals
Ringed seal
Bearded seal
Walrus
Beluga whale
Narwhal
Bowhead whale
Polar bear
Sea Ice*
Marine Biota
Arctic Char
Habitat
Summary of Effects Predictions
• No Significant Negative Residual Effects
PLUS
• Mitigation• Monitoring• Adaptive Management
Threshold Values and Population Estimates
• “….. if there is a public benefit to frontier resource development, then there is a public obligation to ensure that research required to ensure environmental sustainability is done in an orderly fashion. It is neither reasonable nor productive to put this burden on the first proponent in an area.”